Liner for coffee-grounds holders of coffee makers



R. T PITT March 14, 1939.

LINER FOR COFFEE GROUNDS HOLDERS OF COFFEE MAKERS Filed March 13. 1955 Patented 'Mar. l4, 1939 1 I r 2,150,588

UNITED STATES-'- PATENT oFr-icE Ralph T. Pitt, Quincy, Mass, assignor to General Paper Products Corp., Boston Mass., at l'P0- ration of Massachusetts ApplicationMarch 13, 1935, Serial No. 10,822 1 Claim. (01. 53-3) This invention relates to liners for the cofleeigh wet strength and other qualities, including grounds holders of coffee-makers, for instance, P p mpre n e wi h regenerated ce u se; su h coffee-makers as are generally known as with waxes of high melting point, and with other percolators or dripolators. The invention is inw le a en h maintain h n- 5 clusive not only of the liner itself-as an article te ity of t pap While w t and do n t ffe t 5 of manufacture but also of the combination of t qua y O the eofieflbut it is Preferable a the liner with the coffee-grounds holder. so-ealled vegetable par ent, eg. p be The coffee-grounds holder of a coffee-mak r employed for this purpose on account of its low generally consists of a cylindrical metal cup whose 0 1 co p d With its high pu y freedom from 10 bottom is finely perforated to permit the boiling u t n es en in to afiect in any ensi le 10 water employed in making coffee to extract the measure the aroma-or taste of the coffee.- It is coffee grounds and to percolate or drip freely thus seen'that the papers, such as the vegetable therethrough to the coffee reservoir while the par hm n r the impregnated p p used f r cofiee grounds are substantially completely rethe receptacle or liner of the present invention '15 tained therein. The cleaning of the colfeewhile being possessed of the required nondisgrounds holder is a considerable nuisance, for the integratin r n -d t t p p rties in c nextracted coffee grounds are soggy and tend to tact with hot water affords a comparatively nonstick to the bottom and walls of the holder so that D O non-filtering medium and that it is y even though most of the grounds may be dumped, virtue of the apertures punched through the bot- 21) there is a substantial residue of grounds clinging tom of the receptacle that the desired drainage or to the bottom and walls that must be flushed or percolation of hot water or coffee extract through washed out at the sink, in consequence of which the receptacle is realized. dishes in the sink, the sink itself, and the sink With the forego and other features nd 0bdrain are subject to fouling. Jects in view, the present invention will now be The present invention makes possible a ready described in further detail with reference to the and efflcient disposal of substantially all of the accompanying drawing, wherein,-- coffee grounds put into the coffee-grounds holder Figure 1 ShOWS in Perspective a p p liner of a coffee-maker and, accordingly, does away receptacle embodying the present invention. with the aforementioned nuisance. This result is Figure 2' shows the liner in assembly with the 39 achieved pursuant to the present invention by coffee-grounds holder of the usual coffee per- 30 providing the coffee-grounds holder of the coifeecolator, part of the holder and liner being broken maker with the paper receptacle which lines the away to show to good advantage the assembly. bottom and walls of the holder and whose bottom Figure 3 is a front elevation of a coffee-maker is finely perforated to permit the cofiee extract to of the dripolator type, the coffee-grounds holder flow freely therethrough while substantially comtogether with the liner of the present invention 35 pletely retaining the coffee grounds therein. Bebeing shown in section. cause of the low cost of such a receptacle or liner, Figure 4 is a similar view of a coffee-maker of a fresh receptacle may advantageously be used to the percolator type, the coffee-grounds holder line or protect the coffee-grounds holder with together with the liner of the present invention each coffee-making operation, the receptacle also being shown in section. 40

being placed in the cofiee-grounds holder to line As shown in Figur 1, h p p liner or reor cover substantially completely the bottom and ceptacle of the present invention may be formed walls of the holder, coflee-grounds charged therefrom a one-piece blank and may assume a geninto in the desired amount, the cofiee prepared, erally cylindrical pap form Similar and the receptacle together with its charge of exto that of the cofiee-grounds holder in which tracted grounds finally removed from the holder t s adapted to be pieeed- The bottom in Of and discarded. Because ordinary paper tend the liner is provided with a multiplicity of fine to disintegrate, especially under the action of boilapertures or perforations ll arranged as in coning water, it is preferable that the receptacle or centric rows so as to permit the coffee or'aqueous 5 ,liner of the present invention be made of paper extract to flow freely therethrough at substan- 0 of high wet strength, that is, paper which remains tially regularly spaced intervals. The apertures intact and substantially undistorted so that it are sufliciently fine to permit retention of'subcan be handled even after having undergone prostantially all of the coffee grounds within the longed contact with boiling water.- There are liner. The side walls H of the liner are, as

various kinds of papers possessed of the requisitev shown, preferably fluted or corrugated but sub- 55 stantially imperforate so as to impart desired rigidity thereto even when the paper of which the liner is composed is quite thin and flexible. The corrugations serve the additional desirable function of keeping the side walls largely out of contact with the walls of the cofiee-groundsholder and thus of preventing undue sticking of the liner to the holder such as might render diflicult the removal of the used liner without its being torn and/or so distorted as to result in undesirable or untimely spilling of the extracted I coffee grounds.

The paper liner appears in Figure 2 in operative position within the coffee-grounds holder I3 of the usual cofiee percolator. The holder may be the usual cylindrical or cup-shaped metal container whose bottom It is finely perforated to permit the aqueous extract to flow freely therethrough. The bottom Ill of the paper liner is shown reposing on and covering substantially all the inner surface of the bottom it of the holder and the side walls 12 of the liner are shown covering or protecting substantially all the inner wall surface of the holder. In other words, the liner may be of dimensions corresponding substantially to those of the holder so that it will fit nicely into the holder and line it substantially throughout. Of course, the bottom ill of the liner should be provided with a central opening l5, as is the holder M, to permit its being pushed down into operative position in the holder over the vertical circulating spout E6 of the percolator.

A conventional type of coffee percolator containing therein the paper liner of the present invention is shown in Figure 4 and includes the kettle or pot l'i having a pouring nozzle l8. The water in the course of boiling in the pot is circulated by a vertical circulating tube. l9 from the bottom of the pot and out of the spout it onto the cofiee grounds in the present paper liner 2d of the present invention, which is shown fitted into the cofiee-grounds holder ii. The coffee-grounds holder maybe removably supported on the usual annular flange 2i projecting from the circulating tube Id. The top of the kettle may be closed by a hinged cover 22 equipped with the familiar dome-shaped sight-glass 23. When the percolator is to be cleaned, the liner 20 together with its charge of extracted coffee grounds is removed from the holder is and discarded; and the percolator, including its holder i3, may be washed without creating a nuisance, since there are no cofiee grounds therein.

The dripolator type of cofiee-maker shown in Figure 3 includes an upper compartment or section 26 removably fitted into a lower compartment or section it in which the cofleeis collected and from which the cofiee may be poured from a nomle it. The cofiee-grounds holder 2'? may be inserted through the open top of the upper compartment 26 and by its beaded or flanged rim 28 be supported by the lower end portion of the upper compartment at an inturned portion 29 at which the upper compartment assumes a somewhat restricted cross section and projects part way into the lower compartment. The paper liner 2!] of the present invention together with its contents of cofiee grounds may be placed within the holder 21 and boiling water for making the cofiee may be poured into the compartment 24 and permitted to drip or drain through the coflee grounds into the lower compartment 25. The paper liner 20 need not in such case be provided with a central opening in its bottom. Of course, the entire upper compartment 24 may be disassembled from the lower compartment 25.immedi-' ately after extraction of the coffee grounds has been effected, thus permitting a disposal of the liner 2!! and its contents and a washing of the upper compartment, including the coffee-grounds holder, while the lower compartment still contains the cofiee. I

While the paper liner or receptacle of the present invention has especial utility in connection with small cofiee-makers such as are used in the household, it may also be applied to the large coffee-makers employed in restaurants when such latter coffee-makers comprise perforated coffee-grounds holders serving the same purpose as those illustrated on the drawing.

For convenience of designation, the expression vegetable parchment paper is used in the appended claim as including not only the usual vegetable parchment papen'such as Patapar, but the various other or equivalent kinds or compositions of papers hereinbefore described as being useful, by reason of their high wet strength or integrity in wet condition, for the purpose of affording the disposable liner member of a cofiee-grounds holder, in conformity with the present invention.

I claim:-- v

The combination. with a substantially cylindrical, perforated, coffee-grounds holder of a coffee-maker of a one-piece, substantially cylindrical, vegetable parchment paper liner overlying the walls and bottom of said holder, the bottom of said liner containing fine openings punched therethrough through which cofiee extract may freely pass, the side walls of said liner being substantially imperforate but being corrugated to be largely out of contact with the side walls of said holder and thus to facilitate removal of said liner while wet with its charge of extracted cofiee-grounds in intact condition from said holder.

RALPH T. PITT. 

